


Blood In the Soil

by oisforoblivion



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe, Calm Before The Storm, Elf!Neil, Elves, Flower Language, Forests, M/M, Swords, also there is magic so theres that, im just gonna list the prompt words to the tags because i got no idea what to say here, thieves, wood softly crackling as its burned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:21:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oisforoblivion/pseuds/oisforoblivion
Summary: Forming an alliance with the person sent specifically for his death wasn't wise. But it was practical and Neil needed something practical.And the flowers... well, they were completely another issue.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, andreil - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. Prologue: Grass, Trees, and Flowers

It wasn’t a windy night.

It was a depressing one.

The air still enough to fail lifting the lightest of the leaves, the flames before them restraining their slim arms except from the occasional sparks and its stray tongues. The stillness fed into the noises around them, giving a weary tone to the forest, cracking fiery woods mixing with the sound of crickets like an echo.

He lazily looked up to the sound of knives honing, soon losing interest and pulling his hood further down. He examined his hands instead; the dirt piling underneath his short nails, blackened creases with dust. He tried to ignore the way soil called him, urging him to dig his fingers down, down, down, until it became part of his body, plants his limbs. He missed that feeling, he couldn’t deny it. The freeing, uncontained rush flowing into his body and the knowledge that when he spoke, the grass would listen.

Neil smashed his hands together to get a grip on it. The sharp sound did attract inquiring looks from his rogue “companion”, yet just as he lost interest on him, the companion also returned his meticulous attention to weapons.

The trees somberly whispered the coming storm, they’ve been for the last two days, like an omen waiting to be heard even by the deafest ears. He wished he could tell the trees he didn’t need a repeat. The asynchronous whistles screeched through his body like a claw on stone.

This, perhaps, was the reason why he didn’t see them coming – until flowers started screaming.

He barely had enough time to think before he casted away the arrow flying straight to his heart and pulled the rogue over the fallen trunk he was sitting on, with the help of the sudden wind appearing out of nowhere to save him from his respective demise by another arrow. He detected one, two, no _three_ archers perched on the trees, two fighters charging on foot with their swords unsheathed.

“Take them!” he shouted at the rogue, who wasted no time being confused. He threw a knife the moment he touched one, the flying metal finding its place a moment later on the forehead of the front fighter. She dropped backwards, on the other one, and although making him stall back for a bit, eventually saved him from the second knife headed towards his head.

Neil left the rogue to his own, knowing he’d be fine as he unsheathed his dagger, and turned towards the archers. He had no idea how they could get this close without him noticing, but they had his full attention now. And for sure, they’d regret it soon.

He deflected two more arrows before he started his sprint, and called for the soil he previously yearned. Running, he bent sideways to grab a handful of dirt and sent it to the rightmost archer, watching the dirt turn into solid shards and lounge on his body, dropping him to the ground as the dirt took its previous, soft form. He went for the bow and arrow of the fallen enemy, meanwhile calling for another gush of wind to wildly shake the other two blow off the trees. They didn’t fall, but they did lose enough time that when Neil reached the bow, it was too late for them.

He was out of breath and panting when it was all over, flashing a look at the blond rogue just as he unceremoniously cut the throat of his opponent. He threw the bow away with a sharp exhale. Neil asked the earth and the ground boiled where the bodies were. After a few seconds there was no sign of the clash with them being swallowed up, getting buried deep underground.

He pulled the fallen cap over his head again, covering his revealed pointy ears.

“You okay there,” he nodded at Neil. Neil nodded back, and walked to him. The rogue was injured on his arm, a thin wound where sword didn’t entirely miss his body.

Neil demanded his arm to tend but he looked uneager to do so.

“Doesn’t it drain your energy,” Andrew asked, looking at the way Neil still panted. “I don’t need tending now.”

“I’ve enough reserved power and this wound is shallow enough that I won’t break a sweat, now hand it to me,” he said out of breath. He didn’t understand why he still couldn’t shake it off.

“It doesn’t look that way at all. Hey, are you okay?”

Neil wasn’t okay.

He felt his throat squeezing tighter with a knot, air getting pulled out of his lunges against his will. His knees gave out and he found himself kneeling, bending down on the ground, trying his best to fill his chest with breath.

_A distraction._ The ones before were nothing but a distraction.

Neil gasped for air as his thoughts ran wild in his head. Whoever it was knew to target Neil by disabling him before he even was aware of it. Andrew took him from his shoulders trying to understand what was happening, and Neil difficultly choke out what they were dealing with.

“ _Sorcerer._ ”

Andrew looked around for a few precious seconds before locating the woman camouflaged behind some bushes, and dashed at her before losing more time. Neil could feel his vision blurring with nasty spots expanding over it as he saw Andrew trying to throw knives at her, only to be deflected by an invisible shield covering her. Neil was trying hard to not lose consciousness, but he knew he had to give an edge to Andrew if they imagined walking away alive after this.

So he attacked. At that point, he was moving in and out of consciousness but he gathered whatever composure he had left in him and extended his hand to destruction. He felt the magic flowing toward his extended limb, draining him to alarming rates in his current state. The ozone smell hit up before a single crack travelled around the forest from the invisible shield around the sorcerer, soon to be followed by many more. Struggling another breath before he closed and twisted down his hand, he shattered down the shield completely.

The sorcerer’s shouts were abruptly cut as she was stabbed on the throat by a flying knife.

Air rushed back into Neil, sharp gasps and coughs drowning him with the sudden relief instead. A hand patted on his back, and Neil let himself be laid down on the ground.

“Sleep,” the voice called as his eyelids started closing down, “I’ll keep the watch.” Neil nodded as his body finally gave in to the exhaustion, and let the darkness take over.

The trees continued their ominous songs.


	2. Black Rose

Neil declined his head again whilst passing by another large group. He had a small bag hung on his pants, which held his everything and more, and he clenched tightly on it under his long faded cape. The hood was pulled down just enough that it wasn’t suspicious and he could see around, the threads used to bind the cape close dangling to his chest in a loose tie. He wasn’t completely blended in; yet, he made sure that he wasn’t completely  _ there _ either. Years have trained him how to wander the safest where he felt the most vulnerable.

He hated the inner city and all the people came with it. The lack of green was draining, contrary to the fact that it was then when his powers went craziest.

Just as he was slightly distracted, lost in waves of people, he came to a sharp halt. He stumbled and jumped over a single black rose which appeared right in front of him, out of nothingness to be.

He ripped it from between the pavement stones, looking around to see if anyone has seen anything. His heart was beating off his chest as he tucked the flower under his cape, and felt the color draining from his face in a moment of recognition.

A black rose.

Danger.

_ Death. _

He scanned around again, this time less inconspicuous but more detailed. Nothing of threat made an appearance but Neil knew the instant relief was farce. Flowers never lied and a black rose was even rarer. Someone was after him.

Someone quite possibly his own end.

And at best, he was trapped between humans and walls.

He whispered a few words to blend further in but it was a tricky chance to take. The spell didn’t work on people who were already aware of his presence and he was fairly sure that whoever was following him already pinned him down. He hastened his steps instead, hoping to reach a place where he wouldn’t feel so trapped. His only shot was reaching a clearing where he wouldn’t have to worry about bystanders and witnesses as he tried to protect himself.

The streets were more crowded than ever today; from sellers yelling on top of their lungs to sell their products to customers skeptic of their quality, to friends brawling next to bars and lovers getting bolder in between alleyways, the air smelled of spring and everything that came with it. Spring festival was just around the corner, fresh layers of paint on small stores as well as travelling merchants’ carts adding a new brightness.

Neil had to duck when a couple of people walked straight at him holding ornamentation for the street, another side-effect of the spell he used. Being a ghost meant people occasionally tried to walk through you.

He could try going invisible, but it was a bigger risk than he was willing to take in that moment. The energy he needed to spend for full on invisibility would render him incapable for an undesirable time and in case someone saw him disappearing he’d be in a much bigger headache. No, he had to move, and move fast. He was still scanning around with trained precision as he jumped over a bucket of ornament flowers. Trying to understand where he misstepped was a futile effort, but as he ran, his mind also kept on running. He had been ever so careful, and made sure he covered all of his tracks so where could he have been…

He lost all the control on his limbs as he toppled forward with a stinging feeling on the side of his neck. He was just passing next to a tiny alleyway, and a pair of arms extended from the darkness to drag him in.

_ No _ , he thought. He couldn't lose just like this-

“Well well well,” a voice rang from above. “Let’s see what’s so special about you, shall we?”

A single black rose between foreign boots was the last thing he saw before his vision completely blacked out.

\--

The metallic smell was the first thing he noticed.

He hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but the sound of blade scratching on blade echoed inside his head. The pressure behind his eyes hurt louder than the voice however, both urging him to open his eyes and preventing so. He decided to lay low for a while longer, hoping that he could maybe hear something that could help him, and left his eyes close and breathing regular.

“Finally. I thought you’d sleep all day.”

Neil cursed behind closed eyes but forced himself to open them. He didn't know what gave away that he was awake, but noted it to the back of his mind to come later.

That’s, if he made it out alive.

“Helloo,” his abductor snapped fingers. “Elf boy, hurry up. We don't have time for your leisures.” Scratching sounds stopped. “Or should I aid with an external impact…”

His eyes sprang open.

“Don't you fucking-”

“There you go.”

The man was staring at him intently under a pointed hood, ineffective in casting a shadow on his bright, investigating eyes. He was in his twenties, Neil assumed him to be not older over a few years. He was short, the long cape he wore leaving only speculations on his build. He flipped and turned one of the knives in one hand as he uncovered his head, showing short blond hair most likely cut with one of the very knives he was holding. Aside from the hair, uncovering the hood also revealed a long, faded scar down his cheek.

Neil breathed heavily until he could put his adrenaline levels under control, still half scared over what was just implied.

“We need to talk,” the man said.

“Fuck you.”

“It’s too early for profanities, don't you think?”

“You knocked me out and tied up.”

He shrugged. “Something told me that you’d slip away if I hadn’t.”

“ _ Fuck you _ ,” Neil repeated.

“I’m getting tired of this, elf boy,” he said impatiently. “Almost having second thoughts on saving your life.”

“You’re…” Neil said. “You’re what?”

This made him stop. Save his life? That just… that just made no sense. The rose-

The man sighed, and a moment later any knife around him disappeared beneath layers of cloth. Holding his hands together, he leaned forward. “I was ordered to kill you.”

Neil had to hold his scream back.

“So that’s your job?” Neil he forcibly spelled out. “You kill people?”

“If it fucking was, you wouldn’t be alive right now, would you?”

“Then-”

“We have common interests,” he continued. “Let’s just say they didn't exactly get my opinion on this assignment of mine, and forgive me if I assumed you’d rather not be dead.”

“What do they have on you?”

“None of your problem,” he replied bluntly. “And maybe why they want you dead is even a bigger issue, don't you think?”

“What do you know?”

“What do I-” he sighed, and crossed his brows. “You have a twisted sense of understanding our dynamic here. You don't ask questions, I do. If I’m satisfied, you live, and if I’m not, I walk away from your corpse with a clean conscience and my problem finds its solution on its own. Now, you answer  _ me _ , elf boy.”

Neil prepared for impact that he has already seen coming.

“Why the fuck is there a coven of sorcerers after you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter but I still can't do summaries :(  
> This is actually the first chapter as the other one should be the prologue, and occurs before the events there. Hopefully will get to the next chapter as soon as possible (taking into consideration of my other wips... sigh) 
> 
> enjoy :)

**Author's Note:**

> um... yes this one will be updated soon hopefully. (also finding titles and writing a summary is so friggin hard whats this i will need to edit everything later :/)  
> (additionally, im really sad that theres no prologue option in multichaps)


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